Your Baby's First Foods: A Step-by-Step Guide

When Is My Baby Ready for Solid Food?

Most babies are ready to begin their weaning journey between four and six months of age. Rather than following the calendar strictly, look for these readiness signs:

• Can sit upright with minimal support and hold their head steady
• Shows interest in food — watching you eat, reaching for your plate
• Has lost the tongue-thrust reflex (no longer automatically pushes food out)
• Has doubled their birth weight

What to Introduce First

Stage 1 (Around 6 Months): Single-Ingredient Purées

Start with smooth, single-ingredient purées. Excellent first foods include:

• Vegetables: butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, pea
• Fruits: apple, pear, banana, avocado
• Grains: rice cereal, oat cereal (iron-fortified)

Stage 2 (7–9 Months): Combinations and Textures

Once your baby accepts single foods, combine flavours and gradually introduce more texture — mashed rather than puréed, with soft lumps. Introduce protein sources: lentils, chicken, fish.

Stage 3 (9–12 Months): Family Foods

By nine months most babies can manage soft, chopped versions of what the family is eating. This is the exciting stage where mealtimes become truly shared.

Foods to Avoid in the First Year

1. Honey — risk of botulism before 12 months
2. Whole cow's milk as a drink — fine in cooking, not as a main drink
3. Salt and sugar — babies' kidneys cannot handle adult quantities
4. Whole nuts — choking hazard
5. Raw shellfish and undercooked eggs

"Food before one is just for fun" — a popular weaning mantra reminding parents that breast or formula milk remains the primary nutrition source throughout the first year.

Borrow Weaning Equipment on Loopelo

High chairs, blenders, suction bowls, and silicone spoon sets are used intensively for just a few months. Find them pre-loved on Loopelo and pass them on when you're done — a perfect example of community resource-sharing in action.